Defying Convention
by Dashed
Summary: Gladys knew that they all loved each other even when they didn't like each other. Kate, Betty, Gladys and eventually James find themselves in a complicated relationship. This is their life together through happiness, sadness and the years. Betty/Kate/Gladys focus with mentions of James.


A/N: I wanted another shot at writing threesomes/unconventional relationships and in writing Bomb Girls again (it was this or a really crazy Alpha/Omega story). I also love these characters so much and when writing Implosion I just really fixed on the notion of how well they would all work together.

Warnings: lesbian sex, mentions of het, gender issues – I think that's all for this chapter.

Oh and the second season of Bomb Girls is starting this January so it's a great excuses to catch up/watch if you haven't already.

XxXx

_Prologue._

Gloria slammed the door of the mansion Gladys referred to her as her 'summer home' hard enough to make the windows rattle in their frame. Kate peeked her head out of her studio as she reorganised her music notes. She was able to witness the door flying open the second time with just as much affront as Gladys stalked through with her cane not slowing her down in the slightest.

"You get back here young woman!" Gladys yelled shrilly from the bottom of the curving stairs. "How dare you stalk off like a spoiled brat!"

"I'm seventeen years old! I'm practically an adult!" Gloria screamed obnoxiously, "you have no right to tell me I can't go to a concert!"

"You're not an adult and I don't like you listening to that sort of music!" Gladys huffed.

"What sort of music?" Kate asked intrigued.

"Aunt Kate?!" There was a thundering as Gloria came barrelling back down the stairs. She stopped at the midway point to glare at Gladys. "Aunt Kate tell grandma that I should be allowed to go to the Madonna concert!"

"Oh, Madonna," Kate smiled. Betty hated her and Gladys didn't like her either. Kate honestly couldn't believe them when they tried to say that music in their day didn't glorify sex and drugs like today. "Listen to your grandmother," she offered contritely when Gladys turned her withering glare on her.

Gloria huffed "no one understands me! I'm going to die alone and boring! Just because you never done anything fun or exciting in your life Grandmother doesn't mean you have to ruin mine!"

"_Never done anything fun or exciting..."_

Gladys and Kate shared an amused look. Some things were better left unsaid.

XxXx

Betty brought Kate back in the summer of 1942. Gladys doesn't know what happened. All she knew is that Betty disappeared on their Christmas holiday and again in the summer but on that occasion Kate was with her.

Gladys was sore at Kate for all of a day before she gave in and welcomed her back. Betty and she had seemed to have patched their differences and more, as they shyly told Gladys that they were an item. This was a good thing too since Betty had been an absolute misery guts since Kate left.

The only room available for Kate in the rooming house was nothing more than a broom closet and so Gladys had offered her to move into James apartment with her. Kate had been grateful for the act of kindness but in truth Gladys had been desperately lonely since James had left. Her old friends found her strange and their parents were reluctant to allow them to socialise with her for fear her pride would catch. That left her with Betty who, make no mistake, Gladys adored and would gladly fight to the death for, but she was just so monosyllabic since Kate had left it was like being on her own.

Now with Kate back it was like the return of two friends and Gladys didn't have to go crazy in James apartment like she feared. She had hesitated before offering Kate a place to stay in case Kate found out her secret but she couldn't very well leave Kate in that shoebox of a room and so Kate came to live with her.

It was a tight fit for Gladys who was not used to sharing but Kate was a darling and more than made up for any inconvenience. The apartment only had one bedroom so Kate slept on the sofa. There were times however when they would share the double bed. This was usually after a night of gabbing like school girls at a sleep over.

All three of them spent their Sundays together and it was fast becoming the highlight of Gladys's week. In the morning Betty would come over and while Kate was at church they would read the paper together. Gladys always had an interest in the war but now with James fighting she scrutinised every newspaper and radio broadcast for new information. Betty had taken to doing the same, saving articles that she thought Gladys would like. In the afternoon Betty would take turns with Kate trying to teach Gladys to cook and in the evenings Gladys made herself scarce so that the couple could have their privacy.

The apartment had become a sort of safe haven for the two women. Gladys fumed at the injustice that they had to hide and went out of her way to make the apartment as welcoming as possible for them. She did this mostly by going out for a long walk or to see the latest offering on the silver screen. When she came back she made sure to make plenty of noise so as not to take the couple by surprise.

There was a few incidents were she had forgot and walked in without knocking. Betty's surprised half naked tumble off the couch, while darn amusing, was not worth the glowering for days afterward. Kate hadn't been able to look her in the eye without blushing which caused Gladys to walk around with a permanent smirk on her face.

It was amusing catching them so flustered...

...and if sometimes, late at night when her mind was delirious with fatigue, and she had absolutely no control over her thoughts and could therefore not be held accountable, if she thought about Kate and Betty together in _that_ way, well she could hardly be blamed for it.

It was only natural. Having friends like that would of course make one wonder about what they got up to. There were nights when thinking about James hurt too much and Betty and Kate provided a scintillating distraction. It didn't mean anything and she wasn't hurting anyone.

_XxXx_

"We keep this up and we'll be a regular Fred and Ginger," Gladys smiled as she twirled Kate. "Although you would have to be Ginger, you're much better in heels than I am."

"Don't be silly Gladys, You're far too pretty to be a man," Kate laughed at the notion.

"Why Ms Andrews, I take offence at that!" Gladys laughed feigning great shock, "I'll have you know that at the girls cotillion I was often call on to do the gentleman's part. I believe I still know a move or two," she didn't give Kate time to protest as she pulled her in closer and dipped her.

"Ah! Don't you dare drop me Gladys Witham!" Kate squealed and clutched at Gladys's shoulders. Gladys sniggered in a most un-lady like fashion that she could only blame on James's left over scotch.

When Gladys graciously straightened and brought Kate back to her feet she collapsed into Gladys's shoulder still laughing. Gladys smiled and guided them into a gently sway as the record continued to play. She had truly missed Kate and her unashamed physical affection. Both Betty and James were much too concerned with appearances to be overly touchy and Gladys hadn't realised how starved for contact she had been.

"I can't dance anymore," Kate declared, throwing herself on the bed with a smile. "If I have to move one more step my feet will fall off."

"A few drinks and a little dancing and I have a woman in my bed," Gladys grinned "and you said I would make a terrible man!"

Kate giggled and lightly threw a pillow at Gladys, "I said that you are much too pretty to be a man Gladys, not that you would be terrible at it. I don't think there's anything in the whole world that you're actually bad at."

"Not even cooking?" Gladys teased catching the pillow. She sat on the edge of the bed glad that they had changed into their sleepwear earlier in the night.

"Okay," Kate amended "maybe cooking."

Gladys smacked her lightly with the pillow and Kate laughed. There was a lull as the record finished and the good humour hung pleasantly in the air. Gladys was contemplating if the effort of getting up to put on another record was really worth it when Kate broke the silence sounding suddenly serious. "Gladys, why do you suppose Betty didn't want us to come out with her tonight?"

"You hate Carla and those girls," Gladys answered after a moment, "she probably didn't want you to have to suffer through their boorish company. Sometimes I think they talk worse than men when they're together."

"I suppose..." Kate said but she didn't sound convinced at all. Gladys lay down beside her companionably and Kate shifted to look at her. "...But what if it's more than that? You said that Betty spent more time with Carla when I was away. What if Betty...?"

"Kate, Betty is crazy about you," Gladys hurried to reassure her, "she would never hurt you especially over someone like Carla. She would constantly have to fight to see who's the man," Gladys teased.

Judging by the frown on her face Kate didn't see the funny side, "we don't pretend to be men Gladys. It doesn't work that way."

Gladys looked down to hide her face as she wondered inappropriately on how exactly it _did_ work. "Sorry, Kate I was only teasing. The point still stands however, there is no way Betty would ever step out on you with anyone."

Kate bit her lip in thought, "most of me knows that Betty would be the last person on earth to deliberately hurt me but sometimes I just wonder. I mean, you and James love each other and you two still strayed."

Gladys flinched at that reminded and rolled onto her back so she was no longer looking at Kate. The remark hit a little closer than it should have considering her secret inappropriate wonderings about her best friends.

"Oh, Gladys, I'm so sorry," Kate said immediately contrite "sometimes my mouth moves before I can think. I didn't mean anything about you and James. You worked all that out and I shouldn't go casting it up again."

"It's okay, James and I did work everything out and put it behind us," Gladys smiled weakly at Kate. Her dalliance with William was in the past but her thoughts of Betty and Kate were very much alive and she didn't think James would forgive her twice. "Honestly Kate it's okay. Betty only hung around Carla because she gets awkward when I try to talk to her about pretty women."

Kate laughed at that and Gladys knew it was because she was for all intents and purposes pretty bad at womanising with Betty. Betty had trained herself not to acknowledge her difference, so when Gladys would idly strike up a conversation in the park or in the street about attractive woman, Betty would throw a fit. Eventually she kept it confined to the apartment and the car, but even then Betty usually refused to join in leaving Gladys to guess at assets Betty would find attractive on movie stars.

When Kate was present it was even worse. Betty would clam up so tight that the jaws of life wouldn't be able to budge her. Kate would gleefully join in but Gladys found that when they were together the talk often devolved into hairstyles, fashions and features they admired rather than lusted over.

"I guess. It's just sometimes she gets insecure because I still find men attractive. I wonder if she thinks it would be easier to just be with someone who only likes girls," Kate sighed "she should know that you can't help who you like."

Gladys snorted because wasn't that the gospel truth?

"I may like men and women but I love her. I guess I just have to trust her and reassure her. It's not all bad, the reassuring is fun," Kate gave Gladys one of her secret wicked smiles that no one in Vic Mu would believe Kate capable of.

"Kate!" Gladys slapped her arm only feigning a little of her incredulity. "You're incorrigible."

"On the contrary," Kate smirked "when Betty can talk she often tells me how corrigible I am."

Gladys slapped her upside the head with a pillow.

_XxXx_

Gladys was enjoying a rare evening by herself. Betty and Kate were out, no doubt courting in a terrible subtle fashion and Gladys could indulge in her secret. For as long as she could remember she had been a little strange. Too loud, too opinionated, too much for her mother until one day her mother had snapped.

"_Oh lord! It's just like having another boy!" Her mother despaired._

Freddy had teased her terribly over it and Gladys like any good sister had thumped him good. It didn't stop him from referring to her as his little brother or giving her boys names when they played pretend. It was perhaps in those games that her strangeness really took root.

Her brother and his teasing allowed her to take on other roles. When she played with the other boys she was allowed to be a prince, a soldier, a fireman or a business tycoon. Finally she wasn't too loud or too opinionated - she was just enough. The boys respected her, played rough and hard since she was just one of them. Her father indulged her and Freddy rivalled her like she was a serious threat to his title of favourite son.

It all changed of course when she got older. Suddenly she wasn't allowed to be loud, fight for her beliefs or be her own person. She had to conform, to be a lady. The boys that she had once rough housed with treated her like she was delicate, forgetting that not long ago she had crawled along side them in the Great War in their own backyards.

James held old notions of proprietary and virtue when she really just wanted him hard and quick inside her. Her father wanted her to bend and yield when she just wanted him to listen and her mother just wanted her to shut up when all she wanted to do was shout. It was frustrating and she refused to bow down but a part of her just couldn't understand why everything had changed so abruptly.

Freddy was the only one who really understood. He didn't treat her any different and one night he dressed her up in his suit, tucked her hair into a fedora and stood her bare footed in front of his mirror. She failed to fill his polished wing tipped shoes either physically or metaphorically, but she still felt more at ease in that disguise than she had in years.

It wasn't that Gladys wanted to be a man, oh no definitely not. She loved being a woman, she loved the curves of her body and the softness of her skin. She even loved her dresses and jewels and all the fancy things her femininity allowed her to enjoy without reproach. No, she definitely did not want to be a man.

Only sometimes she did.

Not the body, not really. (Only sometimes she did - but she would never admit it)

What she really wanted, mostly wanted, was the ease and power that came with being a man. She wanted the ability to freely express the desires that ruled her body without being labelled a wonton hussy, the confidence to voice her opinion without having it dismissed due to gender. If she could flip the world to have all men's entitled power she would.

Freddy often spoke about taking her out like this to experience the world from the other side, but they both knew it wouldn't work. Gladys would never pass for a man but it didn't stop her from dressing up.

When Freddy died she did it out of comfort. There was a moratorium placed upon Freddy's memory halting all reminiscing and mention. Her father even locked away all the pictures of him, even the ones that used to hang in Gladys own room. It was like he believed that by shuting away the images he could also shut away his grief.

It was like losing Freddy all over again.

They didn't share a strong resemblance but sometimes when the silence of the house became an oppressive shroud, she would break into his room and put on his suit. Standing before his wooden mirror, his memory still frozen in the room, in his suit and shoes, his cologne lingering in the air - for a moment she could fool herself into thinking his was still there right beside her. Then the moment would pass and leave her sobbing into his tie hiding her face from her lonely reflection.

XxXx

Gladys didn't think about her strangeness often. It was just something she accepted about herself. It served as a release valve for her when the world got too frustrating. When her father had once again shot down a brilliant idea she would put on the suit and imagine wowing him in the boardroom. When James refused to touch her she would put on the suit and imagine reversing their roles. (And the few times she gave into her loneliness because she missed her brother so much it _ached_.) When the girls at the factory would dismiss her or even their own worth she would put on the suit and envision teaching them how to respect themselves.

It amazed her that Betty had been able to do that without a suit or any pretence of masculinity.

She had wondered if it was because of Betty's own strangeness that she had the ability to stand so tall. Unlike Gladys, Betty was always aware of her strangeness, afraid to be found out. She carried it with her in a way that marked her as different. People might not have realised it, or had the words for it, but they all knew that there was something that separated Betty McRea from the masses.

"You're staring at me again," Betty muttered looking up from the paper.

The blonde's grumpy tone tugged a fond smile onto Gladys's face that she didn't try to hide. Betty by now was used to her staring. "Do you know that your mouth moves when you read?"

"It does not!" Betty huffed and ruffled her paper like an affronted bird ruffling its feathers.

"It does," Gladys smiled again and moved from her arm chair to sit beside Betty on the sofa. "And when you get stuck on a word I can see you sounding it out. It's terribly cute."

"I never got much schooling, I'm glad you think my illiteracy is so damn appealing," Betty huffed and it had showed how far they had come that she could joke like that and not just fly off into a stroppy rage.

"You're hardly illiterate, you read more papers than I do," Gladys rolled her eyes and bumped Betty's shoulder in a friendly nudge. She didn't know if it was a hidden desire to annoy the prickly blonde that always made her want to reach out and touch her or if it was something far stranger.

Betty shifted away, still not one for physical touch, as she closed the paper. "That's only because you read those hard boiled novels. If it wasn't for the news reel at the cinema I doubt that you would even know there's a war on."

"There's a war on?" Gladys's hand flew to her breast as she feigned shock, "did someone tell the Prime Minister?"

"Yeah, and fat lot of good he's been," Betty snorted dismissively as she stood her hands reaching for her cigarettes. "Kate's in one of her moods again, so I'm going to take her out for the night."

Kate had a tendency to become oddly reflective at certain times. Gladys never worked out what prompted it, but sometimes during the month something would set Kate off and she would stare out of the window, deep in silent thought. There were degrees to her mood and all but the darkest could be lifted by Betty. The dark days usually hushed the apartment with stifled stillness as Kate excluded herself from them. The only clue to her thoughts would usually be the worn bible that she gripped tightly in her hands.

"I understand. Does that mean I get the place to myself for a few hours?" Gladys asked eagerly. She hadn't had the time or privacy to dress up in ages.

"You sound as pleased as punch at the idea," Betty laughed.

"Well, there's a few things a girl likes to do in private," Gladys blushed when she realised how that could be taken. "Not those things!"

Betty smirked but thankfully left it at that. It was later that night when Betty and Kate returned home early that Betty saw exactly what Gladys liked to do alone.

Moving into James's apartment was a hurried affair that left her with little time to pack. Freddy's suit stayed in her father's house but the secret desire to dress up followed Gladys nevertheless. She was fully dressed in her suit and mid way through imagining James touching her like that when Betty walked in on her. There was no way to hide or explain why she was dressed so strangely as her brain was locked in frozen horror at being discovered.

Betty didn't say a word, maybe because Gladys looked so horrified at being caught, instead she closed the door and distracted Kate while Gladys hurriedly changed.

"Betty I-" Gladys tried to explain much later but her voice cracked.

Betty held up a hand and spoke slowly, "I know a lot of girls miss their fella's and do some strange things for comfort, if you want to keep it private then that's your business. If it's not that and something more personal, well after all you've accepted about me I aint going to be casting no stones...so, it's okay Gladys, you don't need to explain."

Gladys sagged with relief and squeezed Betty's hand with gratitude. She wasn't even sure she could explain it to herself. Betty just shrugged and gave her a half smile in return and Gladys stomach fluttered.

XxXx

1943 was the year Gladys developed an inappropriate reaction to the cartoon Bambi. It was frankly, not only ridiculous but humiliating to get aroused anytime the cartoon was played even in her later years. Betty of course thought it was the height of hilarity and it was the only time anyone could freely get her to sing when she would gleefully croon 'April Showers' to make Gladys blush.

There was a perfectly innocent, well, not innocent, but there was certainly a _reasonable_ explanation for Gladys's reaction.

"Ah, hells, what did you do Witham?" Betty cursed as Gladys guided the sobbing Kate through the apartment door. She finished drying her hands and threw the towel over her shoulder as she came out of the kitchen. Betty had been given the opportunity to come with them to the movies but she had decided to stay home and cook them dinner instead.

"It's not my fault! I didn't know that they kill off Bambi's mother!" Gladys snapped. "We had to leave the movie Kate was crying so hard," her only comfort was that other kids had been crying too which helped take the spotlight off them a little.

Kate was too busy breaking her heart into Gladys scarf to notice they had arrived home. Her shoulders heaved violently and her skin was brighter than her hair as she soaked Gladys's scarf with tears. Betty came over and immediately took Kate in her arms. Kate folded her taller figure into Betty's embrace so naturally that it made Gladys smile. Betty didn't appreciate her smile as she gently cradled Kate and murmured soothing things all the while glaring fiercely at Gladys.

"You should have known better, Edith told us how her kids bawled when they first saw it," Betty said. What she was really saying was _'how could you take Kate to see something like that when her own mother just died.'_

"It was Kate that wanted to see the film!" Gladys tried to appease Betty's accusing expression, "I wanted to see _Casablanca_ again! She said that she was sad she missed _Dumbo_ and didn't want to miss this one! What was I to do?" Gladys was only slightly better than Betty when it came to refusing Kate.

"I'm sorry," Kate hiccupped, her chest still rapidly moving as she fought off her sobs. "Truly I am Gladys, it's just he kept calling for his mother...and his mother never came because she was dead!" Kate barely finished as she started to sob again.

Somewhere in the garbled crying they both heard Kate say how much she missed her own mother. Gladys and Betty both shared guilty looks and Gladys had the overwhelming urge to call her own mother even though they were still fighting. By the looks of things Betty felt the same.

"Aw, Kate," Betty pulled back and then did something that started Gladys crazy associations with Bambi and desire. She kissed Kate, what was surely meant to be a small reassuring kiss - a landmark thing in and of itself as Betty and Kate had never been affectionate when someone was watching, turned into an open kiss filled with surprised desire.

Betty seemed to draw out all of Kate's sadness making her momentarily forget her woe. Gladys was nearly struck dumb by the sight and had neither the modesty nor desire to turn away. They were simply gorgeous together. There was no other word for it. Even Kate as blotchy and tear soaked as she was seemed to change and became irresistible when she was together with Betty.

It was the novelty of seeing two women kissing, Gladys would later lie to herself, knowing that your friends were at it and seeing them were different games all together. Her staring was out of simple surprise, something anyone would do.

"Betty..." Kate breathed out her voice heavy with bedroom emotion. Gladys stomach flipped.

Betty blushed from head to toe, even her ears shone as she stepped back. The fleeting shy look she shot Gladys made her stomach flip again. The moment was saved from being awkward when the oven dinged and Betty all but ran to the kitchen.

Kate brought her arms around herself, one hand touching her lips almost as if she was holding on to Betty's presence. Gladys finally jerked out of her stupor and went to hang up her coat.

"Well, good thing Betty was here I would have never figured out that was the only way to make you stop crying," Gladys laughed and hoped that Kate couldn't hear the strangled note in her voice.

Kate blushed and ducked her head still looking pleased, "I need to go wash my face. I must look awful."

"Betty didn't seem to mind," the strangled laugh escaped again without Gladys's permission.

"Neither did you," Kate said slyly and Gladys nearly died. Unlike Betty however, Kate could let things go and with only a sideways glance she left to wash her face.

"You want to learn to carve a chicken Gladys?" Betty said gruffly from the kitchen.

"And deprive James of all his masculine duties?" Gladys forced a smile. If Betty wanted to pretend it never happened then Gladys was perfectly happy to go along with it.

Betty rolled her eyes as Gladys joined her. The faint traces of her blush still lingered on her ears and the back of her neck and crazily Gladys thought she could feel the heat from them.

"So, take the knife," Betty pulled her over handing her the sharp kitchen knife. She threw her drying cloth over one side of the chicken, "place your hand on the cloth to hold it, now you're just going to trace gently down its spine with your knife. You're lucky it's so sharp, sometimes on the farm we would just chop it in two with a big butcher's cleaver."

"I could never eat a chicken I raised," Gladys said absently. Most of her concentration was on following Betty's instructions and not cutting herself. Betty chuckled and gently guided her hands.

"So Gladys do you prefer leg or breast?" Kate's teasing voice joined them in the kitchen.

"Shoot!"

Gladys just managed to catch the chicken before it fell to the floor. Unlucky for her she caught it by the still roasting tray. It clattered back onto the counter spilling grease everywhere as Gladys howled in agony.

"Gladys!" Kate came over quickly to inspect her hand.

"Run it under the water quick," Betty ordered quickly snapping on the faucet. Kate cradled her hand as the cool water soothed the burn in Gladys's hand but did nothing for the fire in her stomach. Kate looked the tiniest bit guilty but Gladys didn't notice.

What completely took all her attention was the feel of Kate cradling her hand standing facing her while Betty's warmth pressed into her back as she supervised. When Betty reached around to dry Gladys's hand softly, the feeling of being pressed between the two women she had seen intimately kissing, was far from friendly. Gladys definitely knew she was twitterpated.

Later when she suggested that Betty should stay and share the bed with Kate, she didn't know what surprised her more, that she was brave enough to suggest it or that they accepted. Even though they tried to be quiet Gladys heard everything and it wasn't her hand that felt on fire.

XxXx

The last thing Gladys ever wanted was to be unfaithful to James again. They had promised to be honest with each other no matter what might come. However telling her fiancé that she was having inappropriate thoughts about her roommate and her girlfriend was still the most nerve wrecking thing Gladys had ever done.

When James wrote back encouraging her to share her fantasies, in explicit detail, she had at first been surprised and then a little insulted. Ultimately, she settled on being glad for the straight forwardness of men.

His letters where unreliable and censored but his replies were often terribly encouraging, egging her on to explore her desires. She refused to include anything but hints and suggestions as it made Gladys blush to think of the censors that would read the letters before passing them to James. Instead she would talk with him about other things, everyday trite matters that he told her comforted him greatly but bored her.

It was later in the war when she noticed James's letters had stopped being censored. No longer did his replies have huge black lines blocking out his writing. He never told her anything important like plans or morale, but things like weather reports and the names of officers that would have usually been blacked out in previous letters, were left alone.

She might never have cared except for one night when she witness her fantasies take form.

"-I wasn't looking at her!" Betty's angry voice cut across Gladys's preening just as the front door banged open.

"Betty, it's okay-" Kate softer voice followed the closing of the door.

"No it aint! You're accusing me of infidelity!"

"I am not! I was just saying that the way you look at her-" Kate's voice sounded exasperated.

Gladys, who had been taking advantage of the empty apartment to once again indulge in her male dress fantasy, quickly tried to get out of James's suit as the couple continued to argue.

"She's my friend that's all!" Betty's tone dropped suddenly, "we shouldn't talk about this here."

"Gladys is staying with her parents tonight," Kate said and her voice was alarmingly close to the bedroom door.

Not knowing what else to do Gladys hide in the closet. She couldn't let Kate see her either half dressed or in one of James's suits, it was bad enough Betty knew. Even if she wasn't indecently dressed it would have still been awkward to interrupt another couples fight and by the sounds of it Kate was still obsessed with the idea that Betty wanted Carla.

"You don't look at your other friends the way you look at her," Kate stopped when she entered. Her eyes flickered to the already lit lamp before scanning the room.

"Kate I want you," Betty said in a raw tone that Gladys had never heard from her before. She had followed Kate into the room looking oddly vulnerable and unlike the usual woman Gladys knew.

"Do you think she's pretty?" Kate turned so her back was facing Gladys but Gladys didn't need to see her face to know that Betty had better answer that question quick and careful like.

"No," Betty shook her head furiously.

"Don't lie to me Betty," Kate snapped and for the first time there was real irritation in her tone. "I have eyes - she's gorgeous."

Betty's head came up and she marched towards Kate. "She could look like Cleopatra for all I care. I just want you," and then Betty kissed Kate.

Kiss was such an underwhelming word for what they were doing. The silver screen couldn't emulate the passion with which Betty kissed Kate. The sight of Betty's hand grabbing a fistful of Kate's auburn hair as her arm wrapped around Kate's waist made Gladys breath catch.

Every part of Kate seemed to melt into Betty as all traces of their fight quickly fled. Without words the two women moved to undress each other with a sureness that spoke of long familiarity. Gladys knew she should reveal herself, get out of the room before she intruded upon their privacy even more, but she was certain that the painfully private Betty might actually kill her if it was revealed that she had caught them in such an intimate moment.

At the very least she should look away and cover her ears if she planned to stay hidden. Her body however was once more her enemy as it outright refused to obey. Her eyes were wide as if to not miss a motion, her breath was quick and soft when it wasn't catching and her ears strained for every sound. She should have turned away.

Except the sight of Kate lying down across the bed, the top of her dress pushed down to her waist and her bra nowhere in sight - was mouth watering. Gladys had scoffed at such a description when she had come across it in her friend, Caroline Danvers, romance books - _Mouth watering_, how asinine, like the human body was something to slobber over like a dog with a bone.

However that was the only description of Kate's breasts that Gladys could call to mind that would do the scene true justice. Kate's back arched and her pale flesh was thrust further into the dim light of the lamps accentuating their curves and their hardened tips that beckoned to Gladys's mouth.

Betty, now fully nude, covered the wonderful sight of Kate drawing her into another kiss as her hands worked underneath her. Kate groaned and Gladys could just imagine how she must feel having Betty tease her breasts. She had tried everything to get James to do that to her but he had refused. He said it was too intimate to do without being married.

She could see why as Kate appeared to lose all thought and decorum under Betty's care. One long leg came up to wrap around Betty's hip causing both woman to moan as they adjusted. It drove Gladys mad to guess at how that new angle could produce such moans. The deliberate rocking motion that resulted drove all three of them crazy.

Gladys was torn between watching the muscles moved and flex on Betty's naked back or Kate's flushed face as she clutched at Betty kissing her neck. When Betty moved further downwards to Kate's wonderful chest Gladys could feel herself grow lightheaded.

"Betty...!" Kate cried out thrusting up into Betty's mouth as her nipple was kissed.

Gladys heard Betty give a throaty chuckle that sounded downright filthy and nearly caused her knees to buckle. She wanted to touch her own aching breasts but the waistcoat and shirt were too thick and muted her touch in a frustrating way.

"I'm going to show you how much I want you," Betty said in that rough possessive tone that went straight to Gladys's heat.

Kate must have felt the same way as she whimpered as Betty slid off the bed to her knees. She was on the far side of the bed so that Gladys could still see her face. The hem of Kate's dress was slowly pushed up until the whole thing was rucked about her waist. It made her look wanton and easy, which Gladys should have found improper but she wasn't a complete hypocrite.

She had often fantasised about James, and Kate or Betty if she was being honest, just pushing up her skirt, or pulling down her pants and just taking her like one of those girls her mother shunned. Betty lowered her head and finally Gladys didn't have to imagine how Kate felt because she knew.

The one night tha James had put his mouth on her like Betty was doing to Kate, Gladys had been shocked and confused before she had been so overwhelmed with sensations. She distinctly remembered the heat and wetness, the roughness of his skin, the teasing of his lips and tongue, the feeling of finally having release from the constant torment of wanting.

Girls, women, weren't supposed to burn like she did. They weren't supposed to actually want sex, let alone enjoy it which was one of the reasons Gladys felt better as a man. Then at least her desires weren't so abnormal.

Watching Kate and Betty though, two women clearly and unashamedly _wanting_ sex, wanting each other, it for a second made Gladys feel normal without the need of her suit.

"Betty! Betty! Oh!" Kate was obviously straining not to thrust against Betty, having more control than Gladys ever had as she remembered thrusting against James and knocking him off his rhythm more than once.

Betty's head just kept moving insistently and although Kate's dress and the terrible angle kept Gladys from seeing the detail that she craved, Gladys couldn't help but squeeze her thighs together as the blonde bobbing head was one of the most captivating sights of the night.

Kate's hand flew to her mouth to catch her moan of release as her body jerked roughly, once, twice and a third time before going unnaturally still as she flopped back against the bed. Betty crawled up beside her and Kate drew her into a deep kiss that made Gladys clench with startling strength.

James hadn't offered to kiss her afterwards and truthfully Gladys's was a little too stunned and lethargic to initiate anything. He had got up and washed his chin and brushed his teeth before he went to sleep cradling her.

Kate however, had none of her shyness and kissed Betty with a great deal more energy than someone in her position should have possessed. She sat up against the headboard and pulled Betty into her lap before her hand disappeared between the blondes legs.

It was too dark to make out just what she was doing but it made Betty's hands clutch desperately at Kate's shoulder and the wall as she thrust against Kate's fingers. Gladys had always wondered about how two women would actually...she had guessed and assumed but she never thought of this.

Betty looked like - and the thought made Gladys blush with deep embarrassment and something else entirely - she looked like she was _riding_ Kate. Kate didn't seem to mind one ounce and was eagerly holding Betty and meeting her halfway. Gladys could see why as Betty threw her head back looking sweaty, out of control and heart stopping beautiful.

When it was over both women wrapped around each other looking relaxed and intimate causing Gladys to feel a stab of longing. It had been so long since she had felt anything close to resembling the intimacy before her.

She waited for them to fall asleep before she snuck out. Unable to rest herself she began to write to James, pouring into the paper all the detail and explicit thoughts that had tortured her in her fantasies.

XxXx

Kate smiled at her as she sat down with her lunch tray and Gladys blinked as she suddenly remembered how Kate looked as she moaned bare breasted in the moonlight.

"Hey princess, you okay?" Betty raised her eyebrow at Gladys as she sat her own tray down, "you're lookin' a little flushed."

"Don't be ridiculous," Gladys sniffed looking down as she remembered the smooth expanse of Betty's naked back hovering over Kate. Her knife scrapped against her plate jarringly.

"Oh Ms Warbucks, what has you so hot under the collar today?" Vera turned towards her with all the instinct of a shark sensing blood in the water. Her smile was both teasing and sharp.

"I'm fine, I just remembered that I have to write to James and I'm out of stamps," Gladys was glad Canada hadn't been invaded because she could never work for the resistance lying as badly as she did.

"Oooh, I'd love to get some of those letters if it makes a girl blush that hard," Vera grinned around the table as everyone seemed to be enjoying watching Gladys squirm. She looked set to torture Gladys the whole way through lunch.

She looked at Betty for help but found only a teasing smirk. Kate, an absolute angel, didn't leave her high and dry, "I thought you were still writing to soldiers Vera, I'm sure you get plenty of letters."

"I haven't had the time lately," Vera said her smile faltering and her hand going to self-consciously adjust her wig.

Gladys and Kate shared a look both a little worried about Vera but unsure of how to help their friend.

"Yeah, I bet your own daddy Warbucks is keeping you real busy," Betty came to their rescue, "don't think we haven't noticed the gifts you've been flashing."

"Who is it Vera?" Kate asked eager to inflate Vera's wounded pride, "he must really like you if he's giving you so much stuff."

"Yeah, you're making out better than Kate when Gladys was wooing her," Betty snorted.

Gladys knew Betty had referred to when Gladys was trying to buy Kate, and by extension the other girls, friendship. She didn't mean that Gladys was pursuing Kate romantically- she couldn't possibly, it just sounded that way because Gladys was being so sensitive. Her reasoning however didn't stop stop her flush as Kate looked at her a moment too long.

"Maybe I'll get my own fur out of this, then," Vera teased and tossed her new scarf over her shoulder playfully. "Does Gladys let you play with all her toys now that you're living together?"

"I would hate to make you jealous," Kate teased as she leaned forward and continued in a staged whisper, "but I will tell you that when we play together Gladys is very generous."

Kate's boldness made everyone blush, Betty was red to the tip of her ears and Gladys couldn't look at anyone. Vera was the quickest to recover and she sat back with an affectionate laugh, "Kate Andrews! I didn't think you had it in you! I always said to watch out for the quiet ones."

"Oh, what are you girls talking about?" Edith asked eagerly as she joined them. "It must be good I saw your blushes from the lunch line."

"Nothing much, I just think Kate is trying to steal my title as the resident flirt," Vera said with a small smile at Kate who looked both pleased and proud.

Vera was more right than she ever knew. Of course Gladys didn't realise this until much later but much of what happened was due to Kate's flirting. As Kate and Betty had reached a comfort level around Gladys that they often forgot themselves.

Gladys was happy to see it in some ways. Kate and Betty's willingness to be affectionate in front of her meant that they were instilling her with a great deal of trust. It was also good that they felt that the apartment was a safe enough place to be honest about themselves which Gladys loved because it was just foul that they had to hide their love outside those four walls.

In other ways it was driving her mad.

Gladys and James had got more intimate on public benches compared to Kate and Betty snuggled at home listening to the radio. However Betty was fundamentally a private person so the brief touches, hugs, and quick kissed she exchanged with Kate in front of Gladys were usually rare, but because they came from Betty, they seemed to magnify in significance.

It just seemed to mean more when Betty would look at Kate with an unguarded softness, or when she would let their hands intertwine when reading. Kate however, was not as reserved as Betty, and was always physically affectionate. She would wrap Betty's arm around her in the evenings, hug her from behind when Betty was cooking, kiss her cheek with darting kisses throughout the day. It was a never ending onslaught of affection that kept the more intimate memories of them fresh in Gladys head.

On the nights that Betty would stay over and there would be the muffled but unmistakable sounds of them together, the only way Gladys could keep sane was by writing letters to James.

As the teasing grew more frequent, so too did the letters until Gladys would usually have several stashed in the writing desk. James replies were often wonderful in their praise and he even began to share fantasies of his own which only fuelled Gladys's replies.

It was wonderful to find out that her fiancé was as inventive as she was. He would talk about all of them together, about Gladys and him, Gladys with Betty and Kate and even himself with another male soldier that had first shocked Gladys but she couldn't very well get angry.

However the idea of James and another man annoyed her and had paused her letter writing for a few days. That was until she actually began to picture it, James and another man twined as tightly as Betty and Kate, then she started to see herself in her suit and James beneath her in a way that made her shudder with no trace of disgust.

In a way, their own perversions drew them closer together.

And then Betty found the letters.


End file.
